Toronto Police Charge Suspected Serial Killer With Three More Murders

Bruce McArthur, 66, (pictured above) has been charged with three additional counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of Majeed Kayhan, Soroush Mahmudi and Dean Lisowick, bringing the total to five. He was previously charged with first-degree murder on January 18 in the deaths of Selim Essen and Andrew Kinsman. Investigators believe there are more victims yet to be identified in a case they are calling “unprecedented.”

Kayhan, 58, went missing in October 2012 and Mahmudi, 50, was reported missing by his family in Scarborough in August 2015. Lisowick, an occupant of the shelter system in Toronto, was never reported missing, but is believed to have been killed at the age of 47 sometime between May of 2016 and July of 2017.

“It’s a serial killer – alleged serial killer,” Det.-Sgt Hank Idsinga told reporters at a news conference on Monday, adding: “The City of Toronto has never seen anything like this.”

Idsinga also told reporters that police have recovered the dismembered remains of three unidentified bodies from large planters at a residence associated with McArthur in midtown Toronto. “There’s at least the remains of three people among those body parts,” said Idsinga. DNA testing and other analysis is now being conducted to determine the exact identities of the victims.

Since his arrest, police have identified approximately 30 properties where McArthur, a self-employed landscaper, may have worked. The majority of the properties have been searched, and anyone who employed McArthur in the past is being urged to contact police.

Investigators are open to possible links between McArthur and earlier disappearances and are looking at disappearances from at least as far back as 2010.